When You Least Expect It
by Subliminally Profound
Summary: Life moves at a constant pace, and the events that happen within are often unplanned. For two FBI agents living life normally, they will soon find that which they've been waiting for their whole lives...in the last place they'd think to look. Danny
1. Whole Weekend Ahead of Us

Don't own or have affiliation with Without a Trace.

_When You Least Expect It- Ch 1: Whole Weekend Ahead of Us_

The thickening rain clouds hung stagnantly over the FBI Headquarters in New York City, adding to the prominent sense of depressing monotony that is the aftermath found in paperwork post-case. Having already completed his report of the missing person of the day, Jack expected everyone else to have theirs submitted to him by Monday morning, and as supervisor took the liberty of leaving early.

Ever efficient, Vivian completed hers just before the rain started to pour, and Samantha and Elena knew they'd be able to finish theirs within minutes Monday. After saying their goodbyes Vivian eagerly rushed home to domestic comforts with her family, as Samantha and Elena headed out to the new upscale mall that opened just outside the city limits.

"Bye guys, ya'll have fun…" Samantha called out from the hallway.

"See ya, Sam." Martin said barely looking up.

So that left Danny and Martin. After working in total silence for fifteen minutes, Martin looked over to his coworker to see him not writing and staring off in space, obviously preoccupied, visibly sad. Martin frowned thoughtfully, but dismissed it.

Another five minutes rolled by and Danny still hadn't moved. Martin balled up a piece of scratch paper after writing a quick note on it and tossed it over hitting Danny on the side of his head.

"Hey, what…" Danny jumped, visibly startled as he reflexively caught the paper ball.

"What's up, Space cadet?" Martin playfully inquired.

"Nothing, man. Just thinkin'…" Danny replied.

"Yeah, I see that. Care to share?" Martin asked out of genuine curiosity.

"It's the weekend. I don't want to depress you." Danny mumbled.

"Danny, come on. Let's just talk. I'm bored anyway; I'd love any kind of distraction at this point."

"Well alright Fitzy, since you asked. I was just thinking about what I'm going home to after this is done." Danny offered.

Martin nodded. "Go on."

"Well, I'm tired of going to my apartment and listening to the sound of nothing. It just gets me down sometimes, ya know what I mean?" Danny explained.

"Yeah, I know the feeling pretty well. Not fun." Martin agreed.

"Yeah."

After that little talk, both of them continued to work quietly. Danny heaved a sigh and closed the folder for the day, also having reached a stopping point that could be easily picked up before the due time. He shut the folder, put on his coat, and mentally prepared himself for the elements outside.

"You gone?" Martin asked.

"Yes, I just can't take any more of it today. I'll see you Monday, Martin."

"Sounds good. See you then."

Danny turned away and headed for the door, and as he did he casually flattened out the paper ball in his hand from Martin that he'd been idly playing with since he'd caught it. He noticed the writing on one side, and it read:

_Hey Danny, cheer up! :)_

Smiling softly to himself, he turned around and looked at Martin's furrowed brow as Martin concentrated on finishing his work.

Danny slowly approached Martin. "Hey."

Martin looked up and paused. "Hey yourself. I thought you were going."

"I am…."… "Would you like to come over tonight for dinner, and maybe a movie or something?"

Martin looked up startled, then grinned, "Sure, that sounds like fun. Let me get my things."

And so Danny and Martin headed out, hoping for the best come Monday. But to hell with it, they were simply happy to start the weekend and relax, assuming no one vanished…

"Crap, of course it would rain on the day I don't have an umbrella on me," exclaimed a pissed Danny.

Martin hesitated before replying "Well, you could share with me. If you want to, that is."

Danny glanced quickly enough to see Martin blush but then recover deftly. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." Martin said.

They walked a few blocks, and then a few blocks more and Martin inquired "How far do you live, anyway? I know the traffic is bad during weather like this but maybe we should just brave it if it's a too much further."

"Ha. You're really lazy, you know that? It's not that much longer, I promise. When we get there I'll order us a pizza, and we can sit down with some drinks." Danny offered in consolation.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the company. And no I am not lazy, jerk…whoa!" Just as Martin came back with that statement, he tripped in a crack disguised by a puddle of water and Danny quickly reached out to grab him. Martin landed against Danny's chest and Danny found his hands at Martin's waist.

Martin quickly withdrew from that impromptu connection, and picked up the fallen umbrella, "Sorry about that. Here you go."

"It's not your fault. Thanks." Danny said.

"Yeah, but now we're all wet."

Danny laughed and said "Don't worry about it, Martin. We're home."

After getting inside, Danny grabbed the cordless and headed to his room. "I'm going to call for food, and get changed. I'll bring you out a t-shirt if you want."

"Thanks, Danny." Martin said, as he took his shoes and socks off.

After about ten minutes Danny came out wearing an A-shirt and some boxers, replaced his phone to its hook and handed Martin a shirt, "Go to the bathroom and get comfortable. You're leaking all over the place. Pizza's coming. Hope you like pepperoni."

Martin went into the bathroom and undressed down to his underwear and toweled off, then put Danny's shirt on. Martin grabbed his rain-soaked shirt and pants and walked back to Danny's living room to find the pizza already there.

"Does the pizza place operate down the hall or something? I didn't even hear anyone come in."

"Yeah, actually its next door, Smart-ass. Nice tighty-whities by the way." Danny snickered.

"Ha ha. Scoot over, I'm starved." Martin said as he sat down next to his partner.

"So what do you want to watch?" Danny asked, alluding to his DVD shelf.

"I don't know, hey is that Urban Legend?? I haven't seen that in such a long time." Martin said.

"Yeah, because that movie is like a decade old. I'm embarrassed I have that actually." Danny muttered.

"Whatever man put it in… This is really good." Martin said with a mouthful of pizza.

Having watched, or at least staring at the screen, most of the movie, Danny found his gaze shifting away from the 90s horror flick to his friend and partner. He became aware of his longer than average staring only when Martin turned to him frowning in question.

"What's up?" Martin asked quietly, the movie completely forgotten by both at this point.

Danny shook his hand and attempted to look like he was back to concentrating on the movie, "Nothing. I'm good."

Martin nodded slowly, turning back to the screen but retaining none of the content. "Does this have anything to do with what we talked about earlier at the office?"

"Martin just let it go. I said I'm fine ok." Danny said still not turning to face Martin again.

"Well, if you say so." Martin glanced at Danny.

They sat in silence just a few minutes more before Martin pressed again, "It just seems like something is weighing on you, man. But if you aren't comfortable talking about it, I'll wait."

Danny slowly shifted so that his whole body was facing Martin, then he sighed almost inaudibly. "Martin I am perfectly fine. You just caught me in a daze is all. I'm sorry for staring at you."

Martin reached out and rubbed his shoulder, "It's cool Danny. Just figured you had a cloud hanging over you." By this point the credits were rolling and it was reaching midnight pretty fast and they were both drained from the week of missing person hunting.

"Well, I think it's about time to hit they hay my friend." Danny said to Martin.

"Yeah. I know I shouldn't think like this but I hope we don't get called to go chasing anybody down two hours from now…I'm beat." Martin said as he got up to turn off the tv.

"No kidding. So, I only have one bed, but you're welcome to it." Danny gestured toward his bedroom.

"No way, man I'll take the couch. It's no problem." Martin said shaking his head.

"Martin please, I insist. Look you're my guest, I want you to be comfortable here. One night on my couch won't kill me." Danny said as he grabbed a quilt from his closet.

After Danny claimed the couch, Martin really had no choice "Well, ok. But only because I have nowhere else to go now." And with that Martin climbed into Danny's bed and settled in. It wasn't before long until he heard soft snoring coming from the living room, and he chuckled lightly as he nuzzled into the warm folds of his friend's pillow. He breathed in deeply and felt more at ease than he did in his own apartment, and he concluded that it must be the smell of his friend surrounding him.

Four hours later, Martin got up from a fitful sleep to get some water to soothe his dry throat. After walking quietly into the kitchen area and drinking his glass quickly, he stopped as he saw Danny's sleeping form in the moonlight. At some point during his sleep, Danny had kicked the blanket off everything but his feet and was curled up in a fetal position with a pillow that threatened to fall off the couch.

Martin smiled to himself at the precarious scene before him and walked over to pick the blanket up. He draped it gently over Danny, and then moved to readjust the pillow under Danny's head. As he did this, his hand ever so slightly brushed over the side of Danny's face and he couldn't help but pause. Before now, Martin had never really taken in the sight of his partner's face. What lay before him was such a gentle, vulnerable visage that he couldn't even imagine forming those taunting smirks that Danny so frequently bestowed upon him.

He found the consistent ebb and flow of Danny's breathing to be peacefully calming. After leaving only to retrieve a pillow and the quilt from Danny's bed Martin perched himself at Danny's feet next to the sofa so that he could observe for just a little while longer, until he was tired enough to go back to sleep.

Danny awoke to the sunlight trickling its way down into the room and he yawned accordingly to welcome the new morning. He looked down to find Martin lying parallel to his sofa and he smiled to himself. How stubborn Martin was, he thought, to give up a perfectly comfortable bed in order to be with him. With one arm now out from under his blanket, he reached down and delicately ran his hand up and down Martin's back.

Martin sighed contentedly, unaware of the treatment he was receiving from a contemplating Danny.

While lazily stroking Martin's back, Danny's thoughts drifted from the imminent conversation they were going to have upon Martin's wake to how far they'd come since their first meeting. It was true that they once resented each other at best, but if one were to look at them now he'd note how close they'd become and how nicely they complemented the other on and off the field.

Martin yawned and began rousing so Danny quickly withdrew his hand as if it had touched a flame. "Why'd you stop? That felt really nice…" Martin said slightly more than a tired whisper.

"What are you doing down there, Fitzy?" Danny asked playfully.

"You're bed sucks. I opted for the next best thing." Martin said jokingly.

"Seriously, Martin. Why are you on the floor?" Danny asked again.

Martin sighed cursing himself for falling asleep there. "Like I said, I went where I was comfortable."

"You're a real freak, you know that?" Danny quipped.

"I'm freakin thirsty that's what I am." Martin said as he rose to again drink some water.

Danny knew that wasn't the truth, but for now he'd put it on hold until he could find a way to extract the truth from Martin.

"What do you want to do today? We have the whole weekend ahead of us."


	2. We'll Be Actin' Real Nice

When You Least Expect It-Ch 2: _…We'll Be Actin' Real Nice_

"I don't know." Martin said thoughtfully. "What'd you have in mind?"

"Well we could start with lunch since we've missed breakfast. After that we could hit up a movie, walk down 38 and 5th for shopping, or just hang. Your call." Danny suggested.

"Lunch sounds good. How about we play it by ear from there." Martin countered.

"Alright, but we need to do something exciting today. I have a lot of energy to burn." said Danny.

"Fine, but first can we swing by my place first. I kind of need to change."

"No problem, Fitzy. We'll take my car today. I don't really feel like walking out there too long on a Saturday anyway." Danny conceded.

After braving the ever-populous streets of New York to uptown, they got into Martin's apartment where he made record timing in showering/changing. They settled on a small Mom and Pop café where there was a relatively large space of green just outside. They took their sandwiches and coffee out from the restaurant onto the grass and conversed leisurely as they ate, for once not feeling rushed.

"It's been way too long since I've had a day like this." Martin said, sighing contentedly as he lay back on the warm grass under the shade of a fairly sizeable tree.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't had this much fun since I was with Sam." Martin said looking away from Danny back at the sky.

Danny frowned. "That was over a year ago, Martin." Danny said quietly.

Martin closed his eyes. "I know."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

"You haven't felt anything for anyone this whole time?" Danny asked as evenly as he could squelch his surprise.

Martin sighed heavily, "No, well, I don't know."

Danny just stared at him, waiting patiently for Martin to continue.

"It's just so easy to let yourself get caught up in the work we do, Danny. If we wanted to, we could easily let it consume every aspect of our lives. I guess that's what I've been doing to…" Martin made a waving gesture with his hand and stopped talking.

"Escape?" Danny said, finishing Martin's thought.

"Yeah." Martin said shifting his arms from his sides to behind his head.

Danny laid down on his side facing Martin. "Well, I'm glad you're having fun."

"Thanks." Martin said smiling for the first time since they'd begun this course of the conversation.

"So what about you?" Martin said after a brief lull in the talk.

"What about me?" Danny asked.

"Why are you still single? You're not _that_ bad looking." Martin said with a half-grin.

"Wow. Thanks, you're so nice. But if I knew why I were single, I wouldn't be single, right? Seriously though, I guess it's just the old cliché: shooting for the moon." Danny said looking past Martin up at the tree leaves fluttering in the breeze.

"Ah. High standards I see." Martin said.

"It's just that, if I'm going to be with someone indefinitely, I want to be sure that it's with the right person." Danny explained.

Martin nodded. And with that they fell silent again. Until both of their phones rang.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Martin said. "Hey Viv. No problem. I'll be there. See you then."

"Hi Jack. Yes, I can get there in 20 minutes. Uh huh. Sure thing. Bye." "Well, there goes our carefree afternoon." Danny said.

"29 year old woman, supposed to be married yesterday, family hasn't seen her since she left for a bachelorette party two nights before." Jack said as the team gathered around the office table.

"Who called it in?" Sam asked leafing through the pages in her file.

Vivian responded with "Would- Be- Husband. Apparently they didn't get around to calling until this morning. Sounds sketchy doesn't it?"

"You can say that again." Martin said sipping from his coffee mug barely glancing at the paper before him.

"Let's put our bets in now. I call the fiancé." Danny said not looking up from his notes.

"And I claim it is a friend from the party." Elena joined into the joke.

"But we know it'll be some random third party that no one ever suspects from the beginning. This is why I've got past relationship from either one of the couple in this one." Vivian said nodding.

"Ok. Martin and Elena, you two are going to interview everyone that was at that bachelorette party. Samantha, compile a list of everyone that was expected to be at the wedding yesterday and start narrowing down suspects. Viv and Danny, you two are dig into any transactions and phone records made in and around that hotel. See if anything pops up. Vivian will be in charge of this one. I have a meeting with upstairs this afternoon. Work fast and you will be able to salvage 

what's left of your weekends. Good luck." Jack said delegating each task as always.

And with that they all dispersed. Martin and Elena started the drive to Connecticutt where most of those present lived. The ride was silent until after they'd left the city limits when Elena began the conversation.

"So I noticed that you and Danny came in together this morning. You two had plans, correct?" Elena asked.

"I wouldn't say it was anything major. We were both at lunch when we were called." Martin said, hoping she'd stop prying into this and now wondering why he cared. It wasn't as if he had much to hide, right?

"You two have become close, yes?" Elena asked, barely taking her eyes off the road.

"Is there a reason you're so interested, Elena?" Martin asked point blank.

Elena recoiled. "I am simply curious."

Martin gave no reply, now lost in his own thoughts about Danny. He really was sorry that their lunch had been called to a screeching halt and wondered, if not for the call, would they still be there right now? Would Danny still want to be there now? Why does it matter so much?

"You look good in jeans by the way. You should wear them more often." Elena said complimenting him.

"Thanks. Why though?" Martin asked.

"No reason. It would help you catch a girlfriend more quickly. Or boyfriend" Elena offered.

Martin did turn to her this time and asked "What is with this, Elena? What do you want?"

"I am just thinking, Martin, that there is no reason for you and Danny to worry about getting closer to one another. I am over him." Elena said, that last sentence more to herself than to Martin.

"Are you? You seem really preoccupied with this. And in case you haven't noticed, I am perfectly fine and so is Danny. We are nothing more than friends, and besides that I'm pretty sure we both date women." Martin exclaimed.

"Whatever you say, Señor." Elena replied as they drove on.

Meanwhile Danny, Vivian, and Samantha were having a similar conversation back at the office.

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked exasperated.

"Look all we're saying is that it's a little strange to see the two of you come in looking so…How would you describe it Viv?" Samantha said turning to Vivian to take the lead.

"Together. That's the keyword Danny. What were you two up to before you came in?" Vivian asked and they both turned their attention to Danny.

"Whoa, look. All we were doing was having lunch together, geez what's the big deal?" Danny asked, trying to look at the phone call list in front of him.

"Well I think it's cute, Danny." Sam said, also trying to pretend to be more interested in her lists than in what she was saying.

"So do you both go out often on weekends?" Vivian pressed.

Sigh "No Viv, we don't. He's my friend, ok. I enjoy his company outside of work. Is that really so odd?" Danny asked still not looking up at them.

"No its great. It'll just be entertaining to watch you two leave together tonight though." Vivian said, finally dropping the talk.

As it turns out, it was the would-be-husband's mother who murdered the wife after she found out the missing person was cheating on her son.

After taking the photo down and erasing the board, the team was eager to call it a day when Jack came in to see them off. "So she stabbed her in the throat, huh? Well, just goes to show…something, now let's go home. Good work, guys."

They all headed for the elevator as the sunset was about to give way to darkness. At the car level, they all noticed Martin get in the passenger side of Danny's car.

"Well whatdaya know. Go figure." Jack commented as Martin and Danny pulled out.

"That's what we said," Elena pointed out.

After they pulled out and were a safe enough distance from the FBI Building, they both heaved sighs of relief.

Martin said, "Well that was a perfect Saturday-kill."

"You said it, friend. You would not believe the crap Viv and Sam gave me when you left."

"Why, what'd they say?" Martin asked.

"They would not get off the fact that we both rode in together this morning. If I'd have known they were going to obsess about it so much, I would have said we should walk in separately." Danny said gruffly.

Martin looked down from Danny to his lap. When he looked back up at the road, he said, "You know, Elena said something to me today."

"Oh. What's that?" Danny asked half smiling.

Martin took a sidelong glance at Danny before answering, "She said that we –that I look good in jeans."

Danny chuckled and looked at his partner, "You do look good in jeans. Speaking of which, I was thinkin' that we should hit up a club tonight to end the day with a bang. How bout it?"

"Uh I dunno, Danny. After the day in the field, I think I want to just go home and call it a night." Martin said rubbing the back of his head.

Danny ignored Martin's subtle request to be dropped off at his apartment and reinforced his not hearing it with "Come on, please just 45 minutes I promise."

Martin sighed leaning on the window, "It's your car."

"Well don't sound so excited. Come on, maybe we'll find our soul mates tonight."

"I think a club is where we'll find anything other than one-nighters. Danny let's just grab a bite and be somewhere quiet." Martin all but pleaded.

"Fitzy, where is your sense of adventure?"

At Club New York, Danny and Martin found themselves amidst a group of girls in their lower 20s who were clearly way past inebriated. Two of them were in a dancing frenzy around what they considered to be a hot Latino while the other two were hanging on Martin as he sat in agitation in a corner.

The girls became so obnoxious with their flirtations with a clearly disinterested Martin that Martin screamed out over the loud music "Danny, let's GO!"

"No way Martin, we're just getting started." Danny responded, and jumped from the dance floor and grabbed Martin's hands and dragged the unwilling man onto the dance floor just in time for the next song.

"That's it Martin. Feel the song."

"Danny please stop. This is embarrassing. No!"

_My style is ridic dic ulous-ulous-ulous._

_If you see us in the club, we'll be actin real nice_

_If you see us on the floor you'll be watchin all night_

"Martin chill out. Have some fun."

_We ain't here to hurt nobody, Give it to me Give it to me Give it to me_

The force that hit Danny's face as Martin hit him shouting "Get your hands off me!" was enough to bring Danny back down to the here and now.

_Wanna see you work your body, Give it to me Give it to me Give it to me._

"Alright, let's go." Danny said inaudibly.

Danny drove as fast as he could to get the seething Martin to his apartment but traffic on a Saturday night doesn't exactly make for a speedy getaway. While waiting for the same red light to turn green for the third time, Danny attempted to apologize.

"Martin I'm really-"

"Save it. Just drive, please."

"I'm trying to apologize to you."

"And I don't want to listen right now. All I want to do is go to sleep." Martin said, softer this time but still adamant.

There was an uncomfortable silence up until they were almost to Martin's home.

"For what it's worth, I only wanted you to enjoy yourself. I'm sorry."

"Why couldn't you just listen to me if you wanted me to enjoy myself. Do you think I enjoyed having those girls pawing at me like animals? Do you think I enjoyed watching girls rub up against the whole time? If you couldn't see that right off, then you don't know me very well at all." Martin stared out the window shaking his head.

By this point they had stopped in the parking lot. Martin turned to Danny one last time and said only "I'll see you Monday." And before Danny could reply, Martin had shut the door and was walking briskly toward the building.

Danny wasn't sure what time it was when he finally drove off from the spot Martin had left him. All he knew was that he wasn't going to sleep well at all that night, and maybe for a few nights to come…

Stay tuned for more Without a Trace…

Song credit: Give It To Me Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake


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